Fantasy Football 2017 Team Preview: Indianapolis Colts
This is the 2017 fantasy preview of the Indianapolis Colts. In this preview I will provide the Must-Own players, Sleepers, and Longshot players with upside very deep in drafts.
Must-own players are those who should be owned by someone in any league. Handcuff RBs can qualify, as they are often very important to a fantasy team over the full schedule. Sleepers are secondary players that you may find on the waiver wire at some point in the year, or may go undrafted in shallower auction-style leagues. The Longshots are players with microscopic ADP, who are being drafted at the very end of drafts, or more likely not drafted at all.
All ADP data is courtesy of FantasyPros.com.
**I will list all kickers, but I cannot give analysis on them. Sorry :-/
MUST OWNS
T.Y. Hilton, WR (ADP: 22): Hilton had the best year of his career in 2016, catching 91 passes for 1,448 yards and six touchdowns. The receptions and yardage totals were both career-highs, and 2016 was the third time in the last four years Hilton caught at least 82 passes and his fourth straight 1,000+-yard campaign. Hilton has become a model of consistency, and a surprising source of touchdowns relative to his size. QB Andrew Luck’s health may determine whether No. 22 overall is too high, but if Luck can survive a 16-game slate behind Indy’s questionable offensive line, there’s no doubt Hilton belongs near the top of drafts.
Andrew Luck, QB (ADP: 63): Luck has been sidelined as he recovers from shoulder surgery, and his status for Week 1 is in doubt. That’s great, because it has depressed my No. 2-ranked QB’s ADP to the sixth round, and we should all know by now the tough-as-nails Luck ain’t missing Week 1. Luck has the talent – and the surrounding weapons – to push 5,000 yards through the air, especially if the Colts defense forces him into shootouts. It’s rare to find a player with a real shot at being No. 1 at his position being the fifth player at that position off the board. Around pick 60, if Luck is there, don’t blink.
Frank Gore, RB (ADP: 73): Gore is Mr. Boring. He’s old AF, no one wants to draft him, but there he is at the end of the year with 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns. Seriously, Gore has rushed for 1,000 yards in five of the last six seasons, and scored eight total touchdowns four times. In that span he’s never scored fewer than five. As he gets older, he’ll eventually fade; in fact, he should fade some in 2017, but his competition is so weak that he will stumble into close to his 1,000 yards and at least six scores. The ADP is fine. He will probably go later and be a better value.
Donte Moncrief, WR (ADP: 88): Moncrief is probably my favorite Colt based on his ADP. Yes, he’s never put up more than 733 yards receiving or started more than 10 games, but fantasy football isn’t like fantasy baseball; upside matters much more than consistency, and it’s less predictable. Moncrief’s talent is huge, and his nose for the end zone makes him super tasty to fantasy owners. Last year he caught 30 passes and managed seven touchdowns. Think it’s a fluke? In 2016 he caught 64 passes, six of them being for touchdowns. Luck looks his way in the red zone, and that’s going to continue. Keep banking on the talent, and the season he stays healthy is the season you nabbed a WR1 in the eighth or ninth round. That’s a bigger part of winning a fantasy title than correctly deciding Odell Beckham is a good buy in Round 1.
SLEEPERS
Jack Doyle, TE (ADP: 132): Is Jack Doyle a supremely talented tight end? No, not really. But Andrew Luck has made Dwayne Allen and Coby Fleener fantasy relevant on a regular basis, and he’s about to do the same for Doyle. I do not expect Doyle to be great, but if you want to ignore TE until the end of your draft, he’s a fine target.
LONGSHOTS
Robert Turbin, RB (ADP: 235): Turbin is the Frank Gore of backups lately. The hype was around Marlon Mack in the early offseason, but here Turbin is, still listed as the RB2 on Indianapolis’ depth chart. And why not? He scored seven touchdowns last year while averaging a plodding 3.6 yards per carry. He’s perfect.
KICKER
Adam Vinateri.